THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Portobello Cafe Restaurant Review

: Dont let the obscurity of Portobello Cafés location---on the edge of New Orleans city limits facing a freeway ramp---discourage you. Its easy friendliness, approachable food and modest prices are the real assets here. Owner-chef Vinny Bruno, an alumnus of Commanders Palace, has a cooking style with dashes of both elegance and hominess, somewhat similar to the low-ceilinged, pleasantly unpretentious dining room. His fried, bacon-wrapped oysters could hardly be fresher or crisper in their cloak of airy puff pastry. Fried catfish gains new culinary stature in a creamed-corn sauce atop a slaw of radishes and mirliton (a local species of squash). The slaw is a reminder that deftly seasoned vegetables never take a back seat to the centerpiece of a main course, including a soft and flavor-infused filet mignon. Custard aficionados are bound to love Brunos French-vanilla creation, studded with a few berries and a drizzle of caramel. A bit of creative overload does show up now and then; but Portobello delivers the goods more often than not.